Since before you can remember, you’ve always loved playing around with hair. As a child, you would spend your time experimenting with styles on your siblings.
As an adult, you find yourself cutting and dying your friend’s hair on a normal basis. What if you could do this every single day and make money?
First, to get into the beauty business, you’ll have to earn your license. After that, you’ll be well on your way to opening up your own salon.
Well, there are some legal things that you’ll have to get out of the way, and opening any business doesn’t come cheap. Check out this guide for complete step-by-step instructions on how to get started.
Create a Business Plan
The first step to opening a hair business or any company really is to come up with a plan. This will be the blueprint that you follow throughout your entire journey.
You’ll want to write everything down, from your salon name to how you plan to finance your building. Do some research into the hair salon market around in your location.
You want to know who your target audience is and what your competition is like. By researching other salons, you can learn what’s working for them and what isn’t working.
This will give you a solid foundation to build your own company. Remember that you aren’t copying your competition. You’re only getting inspiration from them.
You should also begin looking around at different locations in your area. Later on, when you have to finalize a place for your company, you can look back at these notes.
Get the Legal Stuff Out of the Way
Next up on the agenda is the least fun part of starting a company. You’ve got to get all the legal paperwork out of the way. If you don’t do it, your salon may get shut down before you can perform a single haircut, so it’s a necessary evil.
You’re going to need a salon license, a valid cosmetology license, a building permit, an employee identification number, and insurance. Some of these requirements vary from state to state. You’ll need to check with your local board to make sure that you don’t miss anything.
Figure Out How Much It’s Going to Cost You
Starting a business isn’t cheap by any means. Even if you’re working out of your house, it still costs a ton of money to get the ball rolling.
First of all, getting your license is going to cost you a pretty penny. Double it if you plan to sell any products because you’ll need your seller’s license for that.
You’ll have to set aside some of your funds each month for your rent. Your employees enjoy getting paid, so you’ll have to factor that into your monthly expenses.
You can’t sell products or do hair if you don’t pay for your inventory. You’ll also need insurance and a salon chair or two.
Jot down the full list of your expenses in your business plan. This way, you know what you’ll need to account for.
Stand Out From Your Competition
The thing about the beauty world is hair salons are a dime a dozen. You can’t throw a rock in any town without hitting a few of them. We’re not saying this to discourage you.
All we’re saying is that you have a ton of competition to deal with. That means you’re going to have to work hard to find a way to stand out.
Sit down and think about what makes you different from your competition. Once you’ve arrived at some conclusion, do what you can to make it the focus of everything you do.
Specializing is another great way to help you stand apart from everyone else. If you can offer something specific that nobody else can, it will help you gather a loyal customer base.
Get On the Phone With Distributors
There’s a lot of things that you’re going to need for your salon. For your wash stations and other large items, you’ll have to go through a wholesale distributor.
As far as your smaller stuff goes, you can get away with going through a regular old manufacturer. Whatever you do, make sure you get quotes from multiple distributors.
Again starting a salon takes a lot of money. You want to save cash where you can. Don’t slack on quality for the sake of not spending a few extra bucks, though.
Choose a Good Location
Choosing a location for your business isn’t as easy as it seems. You want it to be near a well-populated area, or else you won’t have many people walking by it.
Easy parking is a plus. If someone has to make an awkward U-turn to get into the parking lot, they’re not going to bother. You also want to make sure that you’re not too close to your competitors.
Hire Your Staff
You’re almost ready to open up your shop. All that you have left to do is to hire your staff. You can try running the entire thing by yourself, but it won’t be easy.
People talk to their hairdressers about things that they would never talk to anyone else about. To this end, you want to brace yourself for that by hiring friendly workers.
They also need to be skilled in various areas involving hair. No matter how knowledgeable they are, taking the time to train them is something important that you can’t skip out on.
How to Get Started in the Beauty Business?
Are you trying to get started in the beauty business by opening up your own salon? Like running any company, it takes a lot of work and careful planning to accomplish.
As long as you follow the step-by-step instructions listed here, you should be able to keep your doors open for years to come. If you need more advice on how to run your business, we have you covered. Check out our blog daily for all the latest tips and tricks.
